Each subject of civil law is obliged to observe the interests of another person. In any life situation, the law cannot be dispensed with; therefore, when certain circumstances arise, it is important to act and make decisions based on legal norms established by the state. The concept of a transaction in civil law implies the emergence, change or termination of relations between individuals in the framework of the civil legislation of the Russian Federation.
Definition
A transaction in civil law is a concept that means a form of legal relations between entities. In civil law, they cannot exist in any other form. For such an industry, the disparity of legal norms is characteristic.
Information on the concept of a transaction in civil law can also be found in the main codified document - the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Article 153 establishes that the actions of individuals and legal entities are transactions if they are committed to change or terminate specific powers. In fact, it can be anything: purchasing things, selling real estate, providing services, transferring tools for rent, donating money, etc. All these actions can be attributed to the substantive part of the concept of a transaction.
In civil law, it is most often understood as a volitional act. Participation in it involves the desire and willingness of the subject to the onset of legal consequences.
What are the transactions: classification
In civil law, the concept of a contract includes various indicators. By the number of participants in the agreement there are:
- One sided. For the fulfillment of the will of one of the participants, for example, the preparation of a deed of will, testament, power of attorney;
- Two way. They spell out the opportunities and responsibilities of all participants (contract of sale, lease, exchange, rent, assignment, etc.);
- Multilateral if more than two entities participate (public offer).
Also, transactions are paid and gratuitous. In the first case, this refers to a contract that obliges one of the parties to make a payment or provide a counter service. Most of these agreements. A free transaction is one that involves the action of one party to the contract in favor of another on a free basis.
Agreements are divided into real ones, which are concluded at the time of signing the document and imply immediate execution (giving a thing, borrowing money, providing for use), and consensual. An important condition of the transaction in civil law is the achievement of an agreement between the parties on the performance of mutually beneficial actions, therefore, documents are also concluded in a consensual form. For example, upon agreement between the seller who offers the product and the buyer who wants to purchase it.
The concept of a transaction in civil law may imply a specific basis. Such contracts, which are concluded for a specific reason, are called causal. Legally indifferent transactions are abstract agreements. A vivid example of such a civil obligation is a bill of exchange, the acquirer of which must pay a fixed amount of money, regardless of the grounds for receiving the document and the conditions for its validity.
The timing
Agreements in civil law can be unlimited or have a clearly defined period of validity. The contract of an unlimited plan does not establish the moment the document comes into force, nor does it determine the moment of its termination. Unlike perpetual, derivatives transactions contain terms of implementation and establish a specific time frame, which allows you to fix the moment of occurrence and termination of the rights and obligations of the parties.
Fulfillment of obligations under a fixed-term contract may depend on the occurrence of planned or expected events, which also allows you to divide transactions into conditional and unconditional. Most recent agreements. Typical for them is the emergence of the powers of both parties, not stipulated by any additional conditions. Transactions are deemed contingent if the occurrence or termination of the legal personality of the parties depends on circumstances, the occurrence of which is not known for certain.
In what form can a transaction be conducted
Depending on the method of expressing the will of the subjects of the agreement, there are several forms of agreements. The concept and classification of transactions in civil law are provided for by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Today, oral and written forms are used. The latter, in turn, are divided into simple and notarized. In some cases, certification is mandatory. For example, notarial services are indispensable for real estate transactions or property registration.
Verbal agreements are made through verbal expression of the will of the citizen. Orally, transactions may be concluded that do not require written assurance. The law also provides for the opportunity to draw up a contract in verbal form if the moment of its conclusion between the parties coincided with the moment of its execution. Oral transactions are also contingent. Their peculiarity lies in wordless expression. The subject declares his consent by gestures or facial expressions.
The difference between written and notarized form
The written agreement confirms the content of the transaction and the consent of the signatories. If a person is not able to put his personal signature on his own, then another citizen can do it for him in the presence of a notary. In this case, no rights and obligations of a citizen who signs a transaction instead of another person will not arise. A simple form of such written agreements is used for most contracts that are concluded between companies, as well as individuals and legal entities.
The concept, types and forms of transactions in civil law underlie the theory of this legal industry. If it is a deal between individuals, then it is not necessary to draw up written agreements if the minimum monthly wage established in the region is exceeded. Such a rule does not apply to those agreements that are executed at the time of signing the contract. An elementary example is a fiscal check, which is given to customers in any retail outlets. A transaction, under the terms of which an oral consensus is envisaged, may also be executed in writing at the request of the parties.
Notarization of agreements is carried out by affixing documents with credentials to a notary or other official who has the relevant competence. The list of transactions that are carried out with mandatory notarization is established by federal regulatory legal acts.
Legality
The main feature of the concept of transactions in civil law is their legitimacy. Only a valid contract has legal force. Despite the many signs of a transaction in civil law, the concept of the legitimacy of agreements primarily implies the absence of contradictions between the law and the essence of the agreement, the content of the document. Participants can only be capable citizens or organizations indicated in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs.
Since the concept of “transaction” refers to the norms of civil law, it is characterized by dispositiveness. This means that the main role in the transaction is played by the voluntary and informed attitude of the parties to the contract. Expression of will by vague or ambiguous concepts is not allowed. A person must enter into an agreement without outside influence, pressure, coercion, blackmail and threats.
No transaction will be deemed legal if it was committed fraudulently. The parties to the contract do not have the right to deliberately mislead each other. In addition, the document must be executed in the manner prescribed by law. More details about the concept of an invalid transaction in civil law can be found in the next section.
Cancellation of Obligations
Based on the concept and value of the transaction in civil law, it is worth noting that the recognition of it as invalid releases the parties to the contract from previously assigned duties. The agreement, the recognition of the illegitimacy of which is possible only by a court decision, is disputable. If the invalidity of the transaction is established out of court, it is called void, and a fictitious contract that was completed only for the sake of appearance and without intention to accept the consequences arising from it, lawyers call imaginary. The concept of a transaction in civil law is multifaceted. It is also worth noting another type of invalid agreement - feigned, which are committed in order to cover up another agreement.
All of the above options are null and void. Invalid civil law transactions in which a minor between the ages of 14 and 18 takes part can be challenged by a lawsuit by the parents or guardians. By the way, in the same way it is possible to recognize as null and void the agreement concluded by a person with limited legal capacity.
The concept of the invalidity of a transaction in civil law occurs quite often, since any form of an agreement with an individual can be hidden under this term. For example, agreements that do not have legal force are those in which one person was forced to take part on unfavorable conditions due to a combination of special circumstances, and the other took advantage of the plight of this person for personal interests, with a mercenary purpose. In this case, the court invalidates the contract.
What is restitution?
If the transaction is declared invalid, then the powers of all participants are canceled. This automatically returns the subjects to their original legal position. The procedure during which the agreement loses legal force due to the identification of nullity is called restitution. It can be bilateral or one-sided. In the first case, both participants or one of them transfers to the other property acquired under the transaction, or compensates for its value. However, such an outcome can only be expected when the court determines only one party to the agreement is guilty.
The result of unilateral restitution may be the return of property to the injured party or the recovery of the failed transaction from the culprit to the state treasury. Restitution is not used when property is collected from both participants in favor of the state. If the transaction is declared invalid, the victim has the right to declare the need for compensation for the damage suffered. However, it should be borne in mind that only real income is taken into account, and not lost profits or lost profits. The collection of evidence and the protection of violated interests is carried out by the plaintiff, demanding that the agreement be declared invalid.
One of the conditions for the legality of transactions in civil law is the duration of their legal force. It is equally important to know about the limitation periods for insignificant documents. Since the agreements are recognized invalid from the moment of their conclusion, the injured party may apply to the court with a claim for damages resulting from the illegitimacy of the transaction. With regard to a legally invalid contract, a statement of claim may be filed within 10 years from the date of fulfillment of the conditions for it. If we talk about the recognition of the invalidity of the disputed transaction, then the plaintiff is given no more than a year from the moment when he learned or should have learned about the circumstances that became the basis for the cancellation.
Features of public transactions
Despite the fact that the concept of “transaction” refers to civil law, this term can be applied not only to private relations. Along with transactions between individuals, public contracts are held. These agreements are concluded by commercial companies. The documents establish the firm’s responsibilities for the sale of goods or the provision of services for each client who contacts them.
The main elements of a public contract are objects, subjects and content. The subject of the transaction is considered an object of civil law, in respect of which the agreement is concluded, and the subject is an individual. One of the parties is the debtor, and the second is the creditor. Also, the state, municipality, etc. can act as subjects.
Powers of subjects - this is the content of the agreement. To confirm the validity of the transaction in civil law, its compliance with all the norms of the law is important, since with the help of the agreement the main aspects of property relations with private individuals are regulated. As an example, we can cite article 454 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which establishes the seller’s obligation to transfer the goods to the buyer under the contract of sale. The same legal norm establishes the obligation of the buyer to pay a fixed fee for him.
Additional conditions for the validity of transactions in civil law and the legality of public agreements can also be called:
- Legality of purpose - a ban on concluding an agreement with which a criminal offense is planned is supposed For example, the supply of counterfeit alcohol products.
- Legal personality of all participants. The ability to make a decision on a transaction involving the disposal of personal property is available only to competent persons.
- Written notarization.
- Voluntary participation of all subjects of the transaction.
In the absence of at least one of these characteristics, the document becomes void, and all obligations under it are canceled.
Types of Public Agreements
This type of transaction can be considered concluded only if an agreement is reached between its participants. In accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the process of concluding a written agreement between an individual and a public organization goes through two stages - an offer and an acceptance.
The definition of “offer” is given in article 435 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. In accordance with the law, this is a kind of proposal to conclude a transaction. Acceptance (Art. 438) - expression of consent to conclude a contract. The participants are called accordingly: the offeror and the acceptor.
A party that wishes to enter into a transaction must send an offer to another person. A number of requirements are imposed on such paper. The agreement should not have vague content. An offer is a tool to demonstrate a person’s intention to complete a transaction, and it may be addressed not to one, but to several people at once. Unlike other types of civil contracts, the offer can be withdrawn. If the notice of her recall came earlier, she is considered to have failed.
Acceptance is a reciprocal part of the transaction, which, in essence, is the consent of the person to the offer. This concept means not just a response to an offer, but full and unconditional agreement with the terms of the contract. At the same time, silence, that is, the absence of an official response, is not an acceptance, unless otherwise provided by law or legal custom.
In the interpretations of individual authors, it is called an independent act in which the actions specified in the offer contract are performed. This type of transaction may also be recalled. Moreover, in cases where the notice of withdrawal of acceptance was received by the provider earlier, the acceptance is considered not received. All these varieties of civil transactions carry certain legal consequences for participants.
In accordance with the rules of the current civil law, both parties to the public agreement are responsible for non-compliance or partial non-compliance with the terms of the contract. The liability provides for the payment of the forfeit and compensation for damage on the principle of actual default.